1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to the art of box making from corrugated paperboard. More particularly, it relates to a method and apparatus for continuously stacking a predetermined number of flat folded, glued box blanks issuing from a folder-gluer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various methods and apparatus have been used to stack box blanks issuing from a folder-gluer. Such a prior art device is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,168. In these prior art devices, once a stack has been counted and is being discharged from the stacking table, the following blanks must necessarily be accumulated at some point to be released, when the stacking table is ready to accept them. One drawback of these devices is the length of the operating cycle of the accumulating device. With the speed of the present conveyors which carry blanks from the folder-gluer, even an operating cycle of five seconds for the accumulating device can limit the number of blanks which can be accurately stacked to quantities of twenty-five or more.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing problems of the prior art by providing a method and apparatus which greatly reduces the operating cycle of the accumulating device and thereby permits the formation of accurately counted stacks of even a minimum number of blanks.